The Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) has said that consumers with installed metres have to pay monthly bills even if they have not consumed water because of certain mandatory charges and levies.

GWCL explained that the billing system is based on the level of consumption, so, a client will not be billed for consumption if he or she received no water within a particular month.

However, due to certain mandatory levies, clients will still be presented with a bill even if they did not consume any water.

The Head of Communication/ Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the GWCL, Stanley Martey, explained on the Executive Breakfast Show on Class91.3FM on Wednesday, 19 September 2018 that: “Because we have a contract with you, you are going to get your bill at the end of every month. If you haven’t used water, your metre will not read anything, it will read zero consumption but we still have to indicate to you that you have zero consumption but you have to pay one per cent for fire-fighting and then two per cent for community water. So, that bill will come”.

He revealed that the company has adopted an instant electronic metre-reading system with android devices and billing is currently done based on a cycle of 28 to 30 days.

“If, for instance, you don’t get water in 10 days out of the 28 days, you still should be billed for the water that has been consumed for the 18 other days or the 20 days that you have consumed. So, people should understand that we bill according to your consumption,” he added.

Meanwhile, he has assured the public, especially residents of Teshie-Nungua and its environs that the water from the Teshie-Nungua Desalination Water Project is of utmost quality and does not pose any health hazards.

This was in reaction to complaints that the water from the plant is too salty for consumption, a departure from the potable water residents expected from the plant.